I think, especially when you're in college, each book that you're reading tends to tell you who you are.

Now all the mute objects of my life seem to tell my story, to stretch back in time, if I look closely enough.

Whenever we got a glimpse, their faces looked indecently revealed, as though we were used to seeing women in veils.

that since Cecilia’s suicide, the Lisbon’s could hardly wait for the night to forget themselves in sleep

Their desire was silent yet magnificent, like a thousand daisies attuning their faces toward the path of the sun.

The perishable nature of love is what gives love its profound importance in our lives. If it were endless, if it were on tap, love wouldn't hit us the way it does.

Basically you come up with the fictional idea and you start writing that story, but then in order to write it and to make it seem real, you sometimes put your own memories in. Even if it's a character that's very different from you.